Late Night Cooke-ing: Pens Win 4-3(SO)

The first win of every season feels so great. The first win of the season on the road in Western Canada feels even better. The Pens saw their power play score on two out of three chances, and those goals came from two guys the Pens were hoping to have a big impact on the season. What we learned from this game is that Matt Cooke made a statement that he will be a contender for the Rocket Richard trophy. So that may be a stretch, but he does lead the league in goal scoring.  Just saying'.

Penguins 4--Canucks 3 (2-0 SO)

First Period

Finally the puck dropped for the Penguins' 2011-12 season and both teams came flying right out of the gate. It was surprisingly a fast pace start to the game, but was also a bit sloppy at first as both teams settled into the tilt.

At 4:48 into the first Period, Canucks defensemen Kevin Bieska took a two minute minor for hooking Matt Cooke and the Penguins capitalized on their first power play of the season. James Neal beat Robert LOLuongo from an odd-angle shot only 16 seconds into the Penguins' man advantage.

The Pens would go back onto the power play at 10:38 of the first period when Jannik Hansen took a elbowing minor and the Penguins' power play converted again to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Matt Cooke registered his first tally of the night off of a nice feed from behind the net by Pascal Dupuis.

First Period Notes:

Matt Cooke really looked like he did buy into the fact that he needed to change his game. Not because he scored a goal, but looked good positionally and played with responsibility.

MAF looked sharp, other than that softie he gave up where the puck seemed to have eyes. As we know with MAF he tends to let those up, but then comes up with huge saves late in games, which he did last night.

The Penguins would lead in shots 10-9 at the end of the Period.

Second Period

The Penguins penalty killing unit was called upon to kill its first penalty of the season when Evegni Malkin went to the sin big for an elbowing minor at 1:34 into the period. The penalty would not only be killed off, but Matt Cooke added a shorthanded goal for his second tally of the evening at 3:09 into the period giving the Pens a 3-1 lead.

Vancouver would again pull within one on a Keith Ballard goal that was assisted by the Sedin Twins at 17:47 of the period. At this point the Pens were scrambling to get out of the period but would hold onto their 3-2 lead at the horn.

Second Period Notes

The Penguins outshot the Canucks 11-10 at the end of the period.

Fleury again looked sharp in this period and made some big time saves including the one early in the period.

Third Period

The third period was all Canucks, and quite frankly the Penguins were lucky to get out of regulation with a point.

The only goal scored in the third was a wicked writster from Daniel Sedin at 7:51, and from that point on, the MAF shut the door to preserve the point.

Overtime

The start of the extra frame was all Canucks, and they nearly scored 36 seconds in, but MAF fought off a Daniel Sedin shot from the slot.

After the initial flurry from both teams, the extra frame would end without a result and on to the shootout we went.

Shootout

MAF would make a pad save on Mikael Samuelsson.

Kris Letang then embarrassed LOLuongo with filthy move to give the Pens the 1-0 lead.

MAF stoned the Canucks second Shooter Alex Burrows with his glove hand.

Evgeni Malkin then patiently waited for the patented LOLuongo belly flop and went top shelf to give the penguins the 2-0 shootout victory and the extra point.

You can watch the shootout here.

POFA's Notes and Three Stars

Jordan Staal left the game during the third period with dehydration symptoms and cramping as per Head Coach Dan Byslma.  

Evgeni Malkin was held without a shot for the 13th time in his career. It's early, and it was Geno's first regular season game since his injury. He will be fine. 

The defense looked helpless a few times when they were stuck in their own zone. It seemed as if they were unable to move the puck out, and made a few bad decisions. 

James Neal is going to be great this year. He is the type of player that Eric Tangradi needs to be. He is the type of player that this lineup needs. He was using his body all night to win battles on the boards and in front of the net. 

Matt Cooke, looks as if he has bought into the fact that he has to change his game. It's early, but he was putting himself in positions to score goals, and making good decisions along the boards to win loose puck battles, and was good on the penalty kill.

POFA's Three Stars

3. James Neal

2. Daniel Sedin

1. Matt Cooke.

The Penguins continue their Western Canada road trip on Saturday night in Calgary to take on the Flames beginning at 10 P.M.